Sports briefs: Marin Catholic rallies for late win against Manteca

Chase Merrick caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Caedon Afsharipour just inside the final 2 minutes as the Marin Catholic football team rallied for a 29-28 road win against Manteca on Friday night.

Afsharipour hit a wide-open Merrick down the right sideline behind the defense to tie the game at 28-28. Kicker Charlie Carroll came on for the all-important extra point to put the Wildcats (1-2) in front 29-28. MC trailed 22-7 at the half.

Manteca’s ensuing possession was cut short when Josh Riley intercepted a pass on second down to give MC the ball back with 1:43 on the clock. Manteca only had one timeout left and MC’s offense got into victory formation to all but secure the win.

Manteca retook possession with 2.2 seconds left but the Buffaloes’ last-ditch pass attempt was knocked down by MC inside the 20-yard line.

Afsharipour had his best game of the season, throwing for 287 yards and two touchdowns. Braiden Bachich-Dixon had four catches for 88 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown.

Jarred Geissberger was limited to four carries for 19 yards but two of them went for touchdowns. Geissberger also converted a key third-and-2 play on MC’s go-ahead drive to set up the touchdown by Merrick.

San Marin 34, Moreau Catholic 12

San Marin quarterback Daniel Rolovich accounted for five total touchdowns as the Mustangs overpowered Moreau Catholic at home on Friday night. defeating the Mariners for the fourth consecutive season.

Rolovich threw four touchdown passes with three going to wide receiver Wesley Timmel and the other going to tight end Liam McMann. Rolovich also ran for a touchdown.

McMann, who scored his first varsity touchdown, had a big game on both sides of the ball, piling up 3.5 sacks on defense.

San Marin (3-0) jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead and cruised from there. The Mustangs are set to face Casa Grande (2-1) in Petaluma at 7 p.m., next Friday.

Novato 34, Encinal 7

Quarterback Trevor Cleary and running back John DeMartini had big games to lead the Hornets (1-1) past the Jets. Cleary had 167 passings yards with two touchdowns, and ran for another 51 yards. DeMartini ran the ball 18 times for 122 yards.

Sal Carrow (three catches, 39 yards) and Dominic Scafani (one catch, 45 yards) caught touchdown passes from Cleary. Alvin De Leon led the Hornets with three catches for 56 yards and also had a rushing touchdown.

Tyler Smith was among the defensive standouts with two interceptions — including a 20-yard pick six — and two tackles. Scafani also had an interception.

American Canyon 56, Archie Williams 20

Archie Williams fell into a deep hole early on in Friday night’s game at American Canyon and couldn’t climb out in a loss to the Wolves. The Peregrine Falcons got on the board with less than a minute left in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 28-7. The Falcons added another touchdown in the second quarter, but the Wolves held a 29-point lead by halftime.

Archie Williams (2-1) is scheduled to host Concord on Sept. 21. American Canyon, third in the Vine Valley League last year, is off to a 3-0 start this season ahead of the Redwood Empire League Valley Division opener against Tam High on Oct. 4.

Fresno Christian 42, Branson 20

The Branson School (1-1) struggled on the road in Friday’s loss to powerhouse Fresno Christian.

Girls volleyball

Fresh off of facing each other last night, Branson and Marin Catholic combined to win three out of four games on Saturday against St. Francis and Archbishop Mitty — the two teams that battled in the NorCal Open Championship Game last season. Mitty ended Branson’s Open Division run in last year’s semifinals.

Branson (7-2) won both games, taking out Mitty (7-2) in three sets, 25-18, 25-21, 25-15 and outlasting St. Francis (3-1) in a five-setter — 25-19, 25-18, 18-25, 20-25, 15-10.

Marin Catholic (9-4) defeated Mitty in five sets and fell to St. Francis in five sets. MC trailed by two sets against Mitty before storming back for an 18-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-15, 15-3 victory.

Boys water polo

Redwood (5-0) continued its unbeaten start to the season, posting a 0-6 victory against Las Lomas on Friday night.

Girls tennis

Clare Zhu and Emily McCoy picked up wins at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, to lead San Marin to a 6-1 win against Archie Williams on Friday. Scottie Barksdale also picked up a win at No. 4 singles for San Marin. Amalya Rajparia had the lone victory for the Peregrine Falcons at No. 3 singles.

• Paloma Vano-Rice, Simone Schachter, Alexa Warrin, and Sadie Winter swept the singles matches, in that order, as Branson defeated San Rafael 7-0 on Friday.